World of Warcraft - Tip for Getting Gold

(Other than farming.)

· Video games

If you're playing World of Warcraft, you need gold in the game to be able to do anything. Most importantly, you're going to need to buy the Riding Skill. The Riding Skill gets pretty expensive at the higher levels, but it's worth it (to me at least) to get the fastest Riding Skill possible as you level. From ground riding to flying, it all costs money. That's only one of the many reasons why gold is needed in the game. Gold is great for mounts, toys, bags, etc. The list goes on. Blizzard has numerous ways for you to spend gold in game.

Assuming you understand that gold is an important currency in the game, let's move on to my favourite way to acquire gold: The Auction House!

The auction house is like the stock market. Buy low, sell high! The game includes thousands and thousands of items. The key is to identify which items will turn a profit when you sell (or resell) them. Here's the strategy that I use to do this. Take note: This method is a solid gold strategy based on selling items quickly at a profit. The items I sell turnover quickly and for a profit, but by no means will this be a get-rich-quick scheme. I seek out items that sell well and consistently.

You can eliminate any grey items because they are 'vendor junk' and don't sell for much and can't be used for any recipes. Also, grey armor or weapons are not sought after as they can be replaced too easily with much better gear.

What about armor and weapons? Generally, I stay away from them. Selling equipment can make you money, but it's also a hassle. In my experience equipment sells slowly (or not at all), doesn't stack and can cost money in listing fees as items need to be relisted. Equipment requires the right buyer at the right time. This goes against finding items that sell well and consistently . Yes, you can make money selling equipment, but finding items to resell can be a challenge and again, the whole process is a hassle. I stay away from them.

I've had the most success with Trade Goods. These are goods that can be used in recipes. Some recipes are really popular for various reasons, but mostly a player will use certain recipes to level a character's professions or make items they can resell themselves. The popular recipes will require certain materials and these materials are the ones that sell well and consistently at the auction house.

Identifying popular Trade Goods may vary from server to server in terms of popularity and price. Do some experimenting and see what sells. I've had great luck with lower level items like Silk Cloth and Heavy Leather on my server. Some things to remember about the auction house and which options I choose:

1. It costs money to list items on the auction house and the cost varies for each item. If it sells the listing price is refunded to you. If it doesn't sell, then you lose that deposit. This is why I like to put up items for auction that will sell the first time around. (As bonus, most trade goods have a low per unit listing fee.)

2. You can list items for 12, 24 or 48 hours. The longer the auction time the higher the listing fee, but longer list times will allow a better chance to find the right buyer as buying patterns can vary by day and week.

3. Items have a starting bid and can have an optional buyout amount. I always use the buyout amount. This means that I can get my money quickly (funds are sent in an hour) when they someone bids the buyout price and I know how much it sells for. Therefore profit is easy to determine.

4. If an item sells there is a 5% selling fee that is deducted from the money sent to you. For this reason, you have to factor in more than 5% profit to make up for the fee that will be deducted.

5. The logic stands to buy low and sell high. Buying out all of the lower cost items from my list and reselling them at a higher price is the idea. For instance, if I note that Silk Cloth sells well at 1g then I can confidently buy up all of the items under 1g that are for sale up to 95s (to account for the 5% selling fee.) Some of the items might be listed for 50s, 75, 85s, etc. I will buy them all up to 95s for that particular item because I know that I can sell them and it increase the lowest price listed which means that as I relist the Silk Cloth I just bought there is a good chance it will sell right away. Thus giving me more money right away to purchase more goods.

Bear in mind that prices may vary on your server and some observation for about a week may be required to determine what the sweet spot is best for selling.